Coachella to Move to New Location?

Coachella Festival 2013 could be the last held in its current home of Indio, California. The promoter of the one of the first major festivals of the calendar year, Goldenvoice, are threatening to move the shows, possibly out of the Coachella Valley district as a whole if a proposed admissions tax is passed by the host city. The tax in question pertains to entertainment events catering for more than 2,500 people, and would see a Coachella Festival General Admission ticket rise by over $36, which is implausible according to Goldenvoice president Paul Tollet. The owner of The Empire Polo Club (where the event is held) Alex Haagen III stated that he and Goldenvoice would build a new venue elsewhere if needed, which would mean the festival missing out a year in 2014, and resuming in 2015. Paul Tollet explains:

“If the tax initiative of putting $4 million to $6 million onto Coachella gets on the ballot, we’re going to take off 2014; 2015 we’ll be at a new facility outside of Indio.”